Lady Dogs rally late to defeat Lady Raiders

RYAN BLAKE THURMANHerald Sports Editor

Published 6:00 pm, Sunday, December 14, 2008

Age is nothing but a number.

Plainview 52, Randall 46

The Plainview Lady Dogs may be lacking in years and experience, but in determination, heart and resiliancy, their age knows no bounds as they displayed Friday evening when they recovered from an early double-digit deficit to defeat the Randall Lady Raiders, 52-46.

"It doesn't matter about your age. If you have enough heart you can come out and beat anybody," said sophomore Sandra DeLaGarza.

Plainview (11-4) spotted Randal 22 points in the first quarter as the Lady Raiders (6-7) went on a tear and drained six of their first seven shots from downtown.

"Randall came out and shot the lights out. They were hotter than a firecracker" said Plainview head coach Danny Wrenn. "Randall is a physical team and they played that way. We dug ourselves a whole, but the girls didn't stay in it. I'm proud of the way that the girls came back. They just kept narrowing the gap. They made big play after big play. I'm really proud of their ability to execute late in the game."

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Dogs trailed by five, which was as close as they had been since the end of the first half when they trailed by seven.

DeLaGarza started off the fourth period by hitting a huge three pointer. On the Lady Dogs' next possession, junior Dylan Chavez scored on a back-door cut that closed the gap to two, and on Plainview's next possession, DeLaGarza hit a clutch layup to tie the game at 39 as a Randall defender attempted to slide under her and draw a charge.

"I just aimed for the square," said DeLaGarza through a cough. DeLaGarza's athsma bothered her for a majority of the game. "I just saw the basket. I really don't pay attention to where any of the other girls are."

Plainview then took its first lead of the game when DeLaGarza hit another layup in transition.

Randall countered as Kelsey Murgel pulled down her fourth offensive rebound and quickly put it back up off the glass to tie the game at 41.

After a Plainview turnover, Randall's Shelby Kager hit two pressure free throws that put Randall up by two, but Amanda Ramirez, who led the Lady Dogs with 19 points including four clutch free throws, hit a tough turn-around jumper from the block to tie it back up.

"I was just really focused on the game tonight," said Ramirez, who was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor.

Emily Welch then got a steal from Jade Cordova, her third turnover of the night, and on the ensuing possession, Marisa Gamboa hit a three from the top of the key with around 1:30 left in the game.

Kager then drew another foul and went to the line where she went 1-for-2, but Randall was forced to foul to stay in the game and Ramirez hit her first set of clutch free throws.

Randall was unable to convert any points on its next possession and again fouled Ramirez who sank two more free throws to seal the game for the Lady Dogs.

"I was shaking, but I knocked'em down," said Ramirez.

Murgel pulled down her fifth offensive board on the next Lady Raiders' possession and again put it back up, but freshman Laura Castillo sank two more free throws that completed Plainview's comeback.

"I think this win speaks for our ability to execute," said Wrenn. "Randall does a good job in the half-court game. We were able to skip the ball and get good shots.

"This win was a great team effort. Lauren (Ritter) and Emily (Welch) had good defensive pressure. This was a good win over a quality opponent."

In the first half, Randall was able to control the flow of the game in part because of their rebounding. The Lady Raiders out-rebounded the Lady Dogs 13 to 4.

"We didn't have any put backs in the first half," said Wrenn. "We talked about it at half and we did a better job in the second half. We gave up a couple late, but in addition to rebounding, we also did a better job of keeping them out of their offense."

After giving up 22 in the first quarter, the Lady Dogs put Randall on lock down, allowing them only 24 points the rest of the game.